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Post by jamesw on Jan 15, 2017 3:28:52 GMT
Found in today's haul from an estate auction. I was surprised to see these when I got the binders home. These look to be prisoner of war mail sent from Stalag VIIa ( www.moosburg.org/info/stalag/indeng.html#stalag ). Six appear to be sent between the same people, and look to be written in Hungarian or Serbian (I'm unsure, but someone out there will correct me). There do appear to be four types of letter forms. The first Types 1-3 are German. The fourth pair of cards which were bundled with the first six, are Hungarian, and I'm unsure if they are POW mail, though they do have the German Feldpost stamp. These four types were labeled by the consigner at the auction, and I don't know what his/her source of information was. Type 1 - folded letters on thin paper.  Type 2 - folded letters on thin paper  Type 3 - double sided thin card  Type - double sided thin card (Hungarian). Postmarked in Makó Hungary, which had a large Jewish population, mostly destroyed in the holocaust of WWII.  I have no idea about this sort of thing. Any info regarding history and/or potential value any of you experts can give would be greatly appreciated. |
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Post by jamesw on Jan 15, 2017 3:50:54 GMT
An interesting addition to the above. In the same binder was this First World War envelope sent from Bavaria to the French Red Cross Prisoner of War Commission in Bordeaux. Postmarked on Christmas Eve 1914, it doesn't appear to have any postal rate marked on it.
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Post by jamesw on Apr 14, 2017 14:21:47 GMT
Update on these. I showed them to my fellow club members last night, and among other things I was told, the markings with the Stalag VIIa and number are censor marks.
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tomiseksj
Moderator 
Woodbridge, Virginia, USA
Posts: 6,263 
What I collect: Worldwide stamps/covers, Cinderellas, Ohio Prepaid Sales Tax Receipts, U.S. WWII Ration ephemera
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Post by tomiseksj on Apr 14, 2017 14:49:27 GMT
That fits as Google translate equates "Geprüft" to "checked."
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Poodle_Mum
Member 
Inactive
Posts: 252 
What I collect: WW to 1950; All German Eras; Imperial Russia & USSR; All Occupations and Colonies of Germany and Russia; Canada; QV and Belgian Railways
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Post by Poodle_Mum on Apr 14, 2017 19:46:27 GMT
Wow! Just wow! Awesome find!
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Post by jamesw on Apr 6, 2020 3:03:29 GMT
I'm revisiting these items. They've been sitting in a box for the last 3 years, and I've not been sure what to do with them. But here's some info I received back then, from members of SCF.
The fourth item is definitely Hungarian. Same recipient, Soldier János (John) Harscás, from two separate ladies, Irén (Irene) Barayai on March 28, 1943 and Báliunt (Valentine) Mágori on July 22, 1943. Popular guy. Both were sent from Makó (south Hungary).
Again, as I pondered in my original post, I wasn't sure if these were POW letters. Guess not.
The first three sets are German POW mail from Stalag VIIA. The stalag mark is a censor mark.
As I also mention in my original post, I didn't know where the original owner of these got the Type classifications. What he/she called Type III appear to be the older items, both post marked 1942. These first two letters were reply cards, there's a dotted line on the back indicating where the pages were separated.
They bare a blue German stamp Strafgericht Breslau 183/4 (Criminal Court Breslau 183/4 - now in Wroclaw, Poland). This stamp apparently meant either death or the camps. Obviously our sender, Svetozar Dumitrov, got off 'lucky' because he went to a camp. All these letters were sent to the same person, a Serbian woman named Danica Dumitrov. Wife, sister, mother? Who knows? I guess the contents of the letters would tell, but I don't read Serbian.
The other four items (Types I & II) are dated 1942, and 1943/44 respectively. These are folded letters, similar to aerogrammes.
Reviving this, if members have any other info, it'd be greatly appreciated. There are a number of hand stamps besides the Stalag censor mark and German Feldpost and court stamps. Petrovgrad postmarks and on at least three items, blank roller cancels. And one of the Type 2 letters has a partial purple hand stamp with a heavy border. No back cancels on any of these items.
thanks
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